Bill,

When I pulled my '83 P40 out of the water last November I ended up with
much more extensive repairs than outlined in the other responses to your
post.  The rudder cage on Casi Cielo was corroded to the point of being
unrepairable.  A quick synopsis of the repair (if you want more detail let
me know):

- Drop the rudder.
- Cut out the old cage, grind down the glassed in base, and remove the
stuffing box.
- Install a new lower rudder bearing (built into a "high-tech" tube) into
the hull.  This has a redundant lip-type seal in place of the stuffing that
was evidently not replaced since 1983 (hard as nails).
- Attach a support bracket to the bottom of the cockpit sole into which an
upper rudder bearing was mounted.
- Replace rudder.

There was much more that was done, but you get the idea.  Here are some
links to pics that might help illustrate:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18183759/photo-1.JPG - bottom view of upper rudder
bearing and support bracket
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18183759/photo-2.JPG - top view of upper rudder
bearing and support bracket
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18183759/photo.JPG - bottom ridder bearing in tube
that goes through the hull

The current set-up still allows access through the cockpit sole for the
emergency tiller.  It was pricey, but the condition of the cage made fixing
it a non-starter.

Kevin Muilman
Casi Cielo
1983 P40